Congresswoman Cori Bush expressed in a letter sent this morning to St. Louis Corrections Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah that she is "deeply troubled" over the conditions of the City Justice Center.
Ten detainees have died at the jail since January 2021, with three fatalities in the past six weeks. Activists, members of the jail's civilian oversight board and numerous attorneys have called for Clemons-Abdullah to either step down or for Mayor Tishaura Jones to fire her. Jones has stood by her appointee.
The Democratic congresswoman visited the jail on September 8, part of what her spokespeople said was an effort to gather information on the jail before taking a more detailed public stance.
Bush's letter calls the situation at the jail a "crisis," but stops well short of calling for the commissioner's resignation. She does express numerous concerns about detainees' access to medical care as well as basics like clean clothing, bedding and healthcare.
"I heard directly from numerous detainees at CJC that they are not receiving their prescribed medication for diabetes, seizures, mental health disorders and other chronic conditions," she wrote of her visit last month.
She wrote that a new, non-profit healthcare provider needed to replace the current healthcare provider, Corizon, at the jail.
Bush also called out in the letter the jail's use of solitary confinement as punishment, as well as the use of mace on detainees.
Bush wrote that in her meeting with Clemons-Abdullah, the commissioner said that “nobody ever asks about our staff.” Bush stressed in her letter that she was concerned about jail staff safety as well. "I have very serious concerns about whether staff at CJC who raise concerns about their workplace conditions face retaliation," the congresswoman wrote.
Bush requested numerous documents from the jail head, including the policies and procedures related to healthcare, use of force and solitary confinement. She said that jail had until November 3 to respond to those requests.
“I was deeply troubled by the apparent and continuing issues regarding conditions at the facility and the treatment of detainees and staff,” Bush wrote. “These grave concerns have only been amplified in light of the most recent death of a CJC detainee over the weekend.”
Bush is referring to the death of Juwon Carter Saturday morning.
About six weeks before Carter died in CJC custody, 32-year-old Carlton Bernard passed away in jail custody as well. Yesterday, the attorney for Bernard's family made public the results of an autopsy which showed that Bernard, who was diabetic, died from dehydration and a lack of insulin.
The mother of Bernard issued a statement through that attorney, Mark Pedroli.
"St. Louis city jail failed to treat my son Carlton's diabetes. The jail and medical staff knew Carlton had diabetes, but without treatment he suffered, fell into a diabetic coma and died," said Shantae Winston.
A Jennings resident, Bernard had been in jail for about two months on third-degree assault charges for pulling a woman's Airpod out of her ear and striking her on the side of her face in the city’s Midtown neighborhood.
"Carlton didn’t deserve this. He was only 32 years old and had his whole life in front of him," Winston said.
Read Bush's letter in full:
Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
